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Warhammer 40,000 – Nurgle Daemons At The Planning Stage (Score So Far +4)

Although the plan is progressing well, +4 at the start of Februaury, I find myself missing opportunities to paint again.  Well, not so much ‘missing’ but maybe more ‘avoiding’ them.  I have been in the shed a couple of evenings and not managed to pick up a paint brush at all.  I have many ways of wasting the hours, none very productive.

So when I found myself moving stuff about in the shed for the 3rd day in a row, I decided to try to get my enthusiasm going again by getting a clearer idea of what I actually had for use with the new 40K Chaos Daemons Codex.

It still involved moving stuff about but felt more like a positive achievement. Above is the extent of my Nurgle Daemon collection (both official and proxy models).

In the painting queue and on ‘The Plan’ are these 20 plague bearers. They started as a unit of 20 with one command set but gained a second command when I was bored, and thought it would be a good idea for some reason.

I have lots of different plague bearers in my collection. The old and new plague bearers are very different in style and pose.  All of my old plague bearers (31 of them) came from eBay and were painted in various colours and styles.  My plan is to rebase these to tie them into the main Nurgle army.  The idea of stripping them just to paint them in a more uniform colour seems foolishness in the extreme. All sorts of folk come in a range of different colours and I don’t see plague bearers as any different. Considering some of the things I have used as proxies for plague bearers in the past I for one cannot comment.

The last of the guys on the to do list and also to be found on ‘The Plan’ are these rather large chaps.  An original Great Unclean One (decidedly small next to the new GUO model by GW) has languished in an undercoated state for the last six months along side my Glottkin (who is more in line with the size of the new GUO).  A Herald of Nurgle and two reaper bones beasts complete the group.

Only one of these chaps look like they will be used as their original purpose.  The Great Unclean One will likely be used as a Daemon Prince so that the Glottkin can be proxied in as a larger GUO or as Scabeiathrax The Bloated from the Imperial Armour Index: Forces of Chaos book.  Scabeiathrax’s stat line has him as almost equivalent to an imperial knight so fits the Glottkin’s stature…

These were finished a while back and have been played as proxies for Beasts of Nurgle (the giant worms) and Heralds of Nurgle (the giant snails).  If I play the heralds as more plague bearer sized figures then these may be proxied in as a mixed unit of Beasts of Nurgle.

Nurglings speak for themselves and are just fun to play.

These critters (30 of the blighters) are a mixed lot that have been proxied into use as plague bears in the past and may continue to be used that way.  Maybe with the newer (yet unpainted) plague bearers mixed in for even more variety.  Why should Nurgles Rot just affect humans.  Wouldn’t he focus his aim on infecting all creatures equally?

Still not sold on the plague drones from a game point of view.  A great set of models and they are absolutely huge.  Which is probably why they seem to attract so much fire in the games I have played them in.  Never effective so far, I love them all the same…

My ‘Mother of all worms’ has been my usual Great Unclean One proxy for the last year and I always worried it was too big.  With the new GUO from GW it is now just the right size…  Likely to remain a GUO proxy or maybe be reinvented as a ‘Spined Chaos Beast’ with the Mark of Nurgle…

These Preachers of Nurgle have been a number of things over the years.  As one has scrolls and one has a megaphone they are likely to be used as the two new versions of the Herald of Nurgle in the first few games I play.

My Daemon Prince with two malefic claws and wings won’t change much as I like his look and his effect on the table.

After looking out all the other figures, I came across this little chap and remembered he was also in the army codex and could be given the Mark of Nurgle too.

All in all its far more than I need for the 75 power games we usually play (quick tally estimates the collection at 139 power).

As this is just me moving stuff about and not actually doing anything I am not going to score the post this time.

Score for post +0 points / Total score +4

Dust Tactics – USMC vs Blutkreuz (Score So Far +4)

Well, all that USMC painting finally paid off.  We got our, slightly delayed, game of Dust Tactics played and a good time was had.  This time Coronasan fielded his newly painted Blutkreuz Axis forces.  So newly painted that we had to have a cup of tea to give his Laser Grenadiers last ink wash time to finish drying.  How very civilised of us.

His force consisted of a full platoon of Gorillas, a full platoon of Zombies and a small platoon of Heavy Infantry with Laser Grenadiers (heavy and light). He also brought along a Horten ‘Blitz’ laser cannon toting plane for air support.

My usual USMC force hit the table with support from a newly painted, rocket armed, P-48X plane.  They also rolled out some heavy support in the form of two up-gunned Wolverine tanks.

The table was setup with only a light amount of scenery which allowed the planes to gain free reign over the enemy half of the table.

Playing flyers was new for both of us and we soon discovered that to fire machine guns at targets (at only 20cm range) you have to get uncomfortably close…

Thankfully only a few units had the ability to return fire so the flyers were able to cause some effect before being shot down.

We played a game using scattered reserves meaning we rolled to see where our reinforcements came on.  Which was not always where we wanted. Recoilless guns are very powerful but cannot target flyers sadly.

Ambling zombies, on the other hand, do not like the attention of HMGs and rockets.

In the end Coronasan managed to whittle my left flank down, and was pleased to see me have to deploy my last few units on my right flank.  This prompted him to make a last mad dash along the side of the table and claim an objective allowing him to win the game. All this while I tried to scuttle back over the table in vague hopes of stopping him…

This game was planned and on the list so I now find myself at a very healthy score for the end of January.

Score for post +1 / Total score +4

 

Gaslands – A New Addition To The Garage: The Hammer (Score So Far +3)

One car left before I can call my first Gaslands garage complete.  Not that they are a planned crew.  They don’t even add up to the required 50 Gas Can point limits in any way, shape or form… Its a collection of cars adding up to about 100 cans that I can pick 50 cans from, and fudge the remaining points with driver traits and the odd box of extra grenades.  The game lends itself well to spending left over points on bits of kit and skills that don’t always have to be represented on the model.

Last in the chop shop is the 4×4 with the horrid blue plastic roof and bull bars.

Thankfully a set of clippers and a blade soon fixes most things.  I prefer to keep the original paint schemes for these cars, and add details, rather than repaint the whole thing.

One resprayed drab grey roof and some silver pen to the front bars and we are almost there.

I have two rams from Ramshackle games in my bits box but I wanted to save them for my War-Rig. So, even though that dozer blade is perfect for this car, I have decided to build one from scrap this time round.

Ramshackle do a number of gun parts and turrets but I wanted this to be gun free so added a small double barrelled mount to the rear as an oil slick dropper.

I don’t mind if my enclosed cars don’t have drivers but any open topped jeep or car needs someone to put in that empty seat. Again Ramshackle have some great choices.  Some have said they are slightly cartoon like. Personally, in a game where I am using toy cars, I think they are absolutely perfect.

We drive from the right seat here in the UK you know…

Roof on and ram ready.

This car will be my hammer, no finesse, no guns, ram, block, shower the slower cars in oil…

The garage as it stands: Sponsor – Rutherford

  • Car/ MG-Front
  • Pickup/ Rocket-Turret
  • Car/ Grenades
  • Pickup/ Ram-Front,  Oil slick dropper-Rear
  • Performance Car/ NOS

Next Up… A War-Rig!

Score for post +1 point / Total score +3

Gaslands – A New Addition To The Garage: A Real Racer (Score So Far +2)

My ‘New Year Plan’ has me building a new crew for Gaslands and a War-Rig to go with it.  Today I realised that a War-Rig is actually likely to cost more than 50 cans alone and constitutes a new crew all by itself.  Therefore I have decided to expand the original crew and write a proper team list for it. That will let us play using the full rules of the game (sponsors and driver traits etc).

The first 3 cars are done and work well.  The two new additions have been chosen for colour match as much as anything else.

I don’t plan to spend much time on the first of these as I plan for it to be run as a Performance Car in the game.  It doesn’t need fancy guns or extra kit as it will be trying to race off ahead of the pack when we play a death race style game.

This one just got a couple of highlights with a silver sharpie pen, nothing more.  It is an odd one as it has heat sensitive paint and goes from pink to orange in different areas every time I handle it.

I have some S and S models, passengers with guns, on order at the moment and I hope to add one hanging out of the window before I call it finished.  All of the cars will get some weathering when all the crew are added, just to finally dirty them up a bit.

Definitely progress made on The Plan

Score for post +1 point / Total score +2

Undercoating And Getting Back On Track (Score So Far +1)

As these were put together last week, before my man-flu, they were ready for undercoating as soon as I could warm up a space (and a can of spray).

In hind sight (a wonderful thing you know) these chaps would have been nice to paint up in an almost Star Trek manner. The Officer in a yellow uniform. Maybe the clipboard carrying ‘Doc’ in blue and plenty of red shirted security guard types.

In the end the uniforms reminded me of the bridge of a different star ship.  Namely a Star Destroyer.  I don’t know why but when I see the uniform of the officer, on the left of the picture, I think of Star Wars and the Imperial officers of the fleet.  The high collar and chest ribbons are the reason I think.

Either way it is also because I am lazy, and just painting them all one colour will be easier…

I have undercoated these guys too.  I will not be marking them as a -1 point fail, as I managed to put them away as soon as they were dry.  With that done, I should not get any further distracted away from The Plan.

As I was feeling smug about putting the Juves away (and as I had a can of grey paint in my hand) I recoated the bases of these again.  Their first undercoat and initial paint job was done weeks ago but, as Coronasan correctly pointed out, they needed metal washers adding to their bases to make them less top heavy.

Still not sure how to finish these off but the lights were done weeks ago and I noticed today that I always look at them from the top so never see the orange light.  They will need some work to take them past just plain grey lamp posts. That can wait though, as they are also not on the plan (unless I claim that they should be done sooner as they are used as the race gates in our games of Gaslands).  Until then they have been put away like the Juves…

Score for post +1 point / Total score +1

The New Year Plan – Wandering Off Plan Again (Score So Far 0)

I obviously need to wear blinkers in the shed.

While looking out the Boiler Suite Minions from the little stack of drawers at the back of the shed I found myself having to sort my way past other neglected projects that I had almost forgotten about.  I do wonder if I should inventory the old lead pile or just continue to ignore it.  Its a bit like having an embarrassing aunt and uncle that you have to invite to a wedding. You find yourself feeling obliged to go over and see how they are doing, but find yourself trying for the whole evening to avoid looking in their direction, just in case you make eye contact, hoping to try to put off the inevitable…

In my defence these figures fit the same purpose as the boiler suited minions in terms of fitting in to Fistful of Kung Fu. They maybe even slightly more suited to the role of Hollywood gangers than the boiler suited boys if I am honest.

Being Judge Dredd Juves they would be out of place without a couple of Sky Surfers to jazz them up a bit.  These guys got just as long spent on them as the boiler suited minions because the two surfers needed a bit of drilling and pinning to ensure they stayed together when painted.  I will undercoat them and then decide if they will go back in the drawer or get some paint.  At this point they are taking me back down the tally as they are definitely not on the list and if I decide to paint them I will need to work hard on completing something from the list to balance the tally again.

NOT ON THE LIST…

Score for this post -1 point / Total score 0

The New Year Plan – Progress Report – Boiler Suited Minions (Score So Far +1)

After three posts I have managed to get back to -1 for the tally of keeping to the New Year Plan, but I suspect I may be able to get out of this rut with the next couple of posts.

This time round we have the Boiler Suited Minions.  I finally managed to clean and build these chaps. A job that has taken about 2 or 3 years to complete as they were bought at a show in 2015 if memory serves me right.

Bought to help me field a Fistful of Kung Fu force that could also be used in Ospreys Black Ops, they may now feature in those games or as an evil villains henchmen in Scrappers or Rogue Stars.

These guys are all supplied with separate heads, as the 7TV range has a whole host of head swap options.  I have used the original heads and found that most do not fit exactly as planned.  Most needed either, a bit of shaping at the neck, or some extra glue to fit and fill any gaps. Slightly surprising for such nice, detailed figures.

They look like they will paint up well with easy one colour jump suits.  I fancy these guys as the more boring grey uniformed types so its likely they will get a spray can undercoat in the base colour then just belts, bits, guns and skin picked out in a contrasting colour.  There is enough variation in the range for leaders and specialists to be picked out so they should come in handy for a good few games.

As these are definitely on the list I will count it as a success and put myself on a positive score for the first time…

Score for this post +1 point / Total score +1

The New Year Plan – Man Flu… Medicine… The Arrival Of Papa Nurgle (Score So Far 0)

This post was planned as a quick aside really, to say that I didn’t get a game of Heroes of Normandie in as planned.  I have what seems to be a mild dose of the flu.  I know, I can hear women everywhere (at least those living in my house) saying ‘man-flu’ but it has kept me in bed for most of the last 48 hours.

As I fight of the virus that is trying to distract me from keeping my focus on ‘The New Year Plan’, I find myself up against a new opponent that has found its way into the house.

My good lady wife has installed this monstrosity in our conservatory recently, and its directly in my line of view when I write this blog…  If posts get a little strange over the next months, it may be this glowing brown medicine taking an effect.  I will keep my resolve and try to avoid its wanton glare…

Its apt, and a little unnerving, that this book arrived in my possession a little before my flu took hold. It would seem that the more I read over the first few days the sicker I became.  After 3 days of my colleagues commenting that I looked ‘a little peaky’ I had read most of it and tried to plan out my first Nurgle Daemon list.  As soon as that list was written the infection took hold in earnest…

I will leave you to make up your own minds as to its power over me…

Scoring this should really be +2 as I should get the point back for not playing Heroes and for getting my Nurgle list together. I suspect however that we will still get that game of Heroes played, albeit a few days later than planned.  So rather than gain a point, just to have to post that I have lost it a gain, I am only awarding myself +1 point for the work done on my Nurgle list.

Score for post +1 point / Total score 0

The New Year Plan – Game Played Heroes Of Normandie (Score So Far -1)

When I look at what I have achieved in the last week or so I feel quite happy with my progress.  I have to admit though that I am still slightly ‘Off Plan’.

One of the reasons I may be put even further off plan was pointed out to me by both Veganman and Coronasan this week.  That reason, Board Games!

I haven’t played any board games for a while but I do have quite a collection in the house.  One such game is Heroes of Normandie. Both of the gents named above happened to point out that this game was on the original list we wrote last year.

I didn’t add any board games to the New Year Plan as it slipped my mind.  As board games are only likely to get a brief mention on the blog, due to a planned game of Heroes of Normandie that will likely have been played before this post is published, I will list it as being ‘Off Plan’.

Therefore, game played: Heroes of Normandie – off plan

Score for post -1 point / Total score -1

The New Year Plan – Progress Report – Dust Game Played (Score So Far 0)

So, although I lost a point by painting up a model that was not on my New Year Plan, today I get to win that point back again.  I am pleased to say that we recently played a game of Dust Tactics, a game we have neglected for about a year. (edit: In fact the last game I can find recorded on the blog was back in June 2016…)

I have not been out of love with this game, it remains one of my firm favourites, and we always seem to return to it with as much interest and enjoyment as when we started playing it. It is, in fact, one of the reasons Coronasan and I became reacquainted after a number of years in different gaming circles.

The plan was originally to get this game in before Xmas. With the holidays, and a number of ‘real life’ changes for both of us, we missed more than a couple of opportunities to get this played.  It actually resulted in me having time to paint up the last few units of my USMC force over the new year break (each cancelled game gave me a few extra hours of painting time).

My USMC managed to hold Coronasan’s Gorilla and Zombie heavy Axis force at bay and we settled on a draw in the end.

This game was one that we did propose for the New Year Plan so counts as a success for scoring purposes.  We hope to get another game of this in, in about 2 weeks time, so should win me some more points soon if all goes well…

Score for this post +1 point / Total Score 0